Long way from Conway (53/?)
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A/N: I'm sorry for the late/short update, but a lot has been going on in RL land for me. I have finals all this week and all next week that I have to study for, and it's really taking a toll on my writing. Next week, I'm not so sure how good of an update you'll get because I have to study even harder for the ones then, but I'll try my best. I hope you guys like this (don't kill me!) and I hope you understand my lateness here! Much love :)
ENJOY!
It's moments like these when Kris just doesn't want to leave his bed.
Adam, the snugly person he is, has one arm draped around his waist and another laying just above Kris's head, warm fingers intertwined lazily in Kris's soft, chestnut hair.
Kris feels like he could stay like that all day long.
All day long stops when, suddenly, his cell phone goes off.
It wakes Adam up almost instantly and makes him slightly yank Kris's hair in response, startling him also out of his semi-slumber.
"Sorry," Adam apologizes after seeing Kris wince. Kris just sighs and snags his phone.
"It's your mother. Should we be worried?"
"Who knows," Adam says with a yawn, "she has been pretty anxious for us to come home. I mean, she did send us a text yesterday, right?"
Opening up his cell phone, Kris gives Adam a nod and then answers as cheerfully as he can muster just a minute after waking up.
"Hello?"
"Kristopher," he hears Leila gasp into the phone, "thank God you answered."
"Why...why are you saying that? Is everything okay?"
"I went to go feed Jessie after making a sandwich for Neil and when I picked her up, she was struggling to breathe. I swear to you that she wasn't in a bad position or around anything that could choke her, she just was barely breathing. I have no clue what happened, Kris. I'm so so so sorry."
Looking straight into Adam's now fearful eyes, Kris gulps and whispers into the phone, "Is she okay?"
"I'm at the hospital right now," Leila replies with a sob. "They wouldn't tell me anything. I just gave her to them, told them she wasn't breathing and about how she was a premature day old baby, and then was whisked away from her. I've heard nothing."
"We'll be there in a few," Kris says quickly, already getting up from the bed to get ready. "You call us immediately if you hear anything, okay?"
"Of course. I'm so sorry, Kris."
"She's young, Leila. She was only seven months. She's bound to have some problem."
"Problem," Adam whispers in shock, "what is wrong with Jessie, Kris?"
"Quiet babe, your Mom is-"
"Dammit Kris, tell me! What is going on?"
Kris sighs and places a quick yet meaningful kiss to Adam's near quivering lips. "I'll tell you in the car. Get dressed, okay? Trust me....we'll be okay." Grabbing his jacket, Kris quickly says an apologetic and rushed goodbye into the phone and then rushes out the door. Adam follows quickly behind, locking the door just barely in his rushed state. As soon as they rush into the the lobby of the hotel, people are looking, practically staring at them as they speed towards the door. Adam has at least somewhat decent clothes on, a blank black t-shirt and jeans covering his wan looking skin at the moment, but Kris looks like he just woke up from a rough night of sleep. He has on a white tank top and old basketball-looking shorts, and to add to the madness, his hair is shooting everywhere on top of his head, making him look like he just went through a wind tunnel on his way down.
They fly through the doorway when they reach it, startling a few people getting out of their cars, and rush over to their own as fast as their legs can take them. They're inside the car within seconds, and before they can process it, they are flying down the road, emergency lights on and everything.
They had to get there soon.
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"Guess what, Crystal? It's transfer day!"
Groaning, Crystal looks up from her hospital bed and stares at Melanie, the one nurse she hated more than the others due to her friendliness towards Adam. "Transfer where?"
"Back to jail, silly," Melanie replies in a highly mocking tone. "Didn't you know that? They actually have to take your tired ass back to prison! Can you believe that?"
"If it wasn't for the wires and crap still stuck in my wrist and arms, I'd kill you right now."
"So motherly! You really wonder why Adam and Kris didn't let you keep any ties to Jessie other than blood, huh?"
"Listen girl," Crystal snaps, grabbing Melanie's shirt and pulling her close, "if I was smart, like you hopefully will be, I'd stop screwing around with my emotions and testing my limits, okay?"
Melanie smirks. "I can say whatever the hell I want, Crystal. You know why?"
"Why?"
"Because outside of this little room, mere inches from the door, there are cops just waiting for you. Waiting to stop you if you were to attempt to hurt me. Not caring about the fact you just had a child. You wanna' know another thing? They can sure as hell do a few things to you now that you're not preggers. They don't have a baby to worry about injuring. It's just you. So, just for your information, if you try to pull any crap in the next few minutes, you'll probably fail. Okay, sweetheart?"
"YOU SUCK," Crystal yells, and in a split second, she throws her bedside drink-a glass of orange juice-towards Melanie. Melanie immediately ducks, but with nothing to stop it, the glass shatters against the wall, alerting the police instantly. The three cops rush in and assess the room, seeing Crystal in a rage, Melanie still crouched down in fear from the glass, and the shattered pieces of the glass against the blank wall to their right and pull their guns out at Crystal. Crystal raises her hands, trying to be innocent, but the police take none of her crap.
"Nurse, please take her off her medications and such," one of them firmly but kindly orders. Melanie nods and quickly does her job while Crystal sits in fear. As soon as she's done, the cops order her to stand up and put her hands behind her back. When she does it, they cuff her, and with that, she's sent out of the room. Melanie follows out of curiosity into the lobby of the place and watches as they make way to the elevators like every other nurse there. But then, something catches her attention. Something that makes her freeze at the spot.
Adam and Kris rushing out of an elevator with frightened faces.
"Well, well, well," Crystal says as they come face-to-face, "if it isn't you two. Kris, you look pretty sexy right now, you know that?"
He doesn't even hesitate when he slams Crystal against the wall, jostling the cops a bit. They pull him away, but never once does he unlock his gaze. Then, in a choked whisper, he says to her, "You were the cause of this. You just couldn't help but be a stupid dog of a woman and force my friend to have to throw you against a damn wall and cause MY child to be born far earlier than she was supposed to. It's YOUR fault that my daughter is struggling to breathe right now, Crystal! It's your fault that I am having a HORRIBLE day so far! IT'S YOUR FAULT I CAN'T HAVE A NORMAL LIFE, CRYSTAL!"
"I'm sor-"
"Don't," Kris growls, now being held back by Adam's strong arms. "Don't say you're sorry. Because you're not, Crystal. If you were sorry, you would've just given me up like any normal girl would have on the day I turned to Adam and chose him. You would've understood my decision and you would've just gone on to someone else who would've loved you for you, the girl you were before this all happened. She was different than you. I know it. I remember. Now....if you would excuse me, I have to go see if my little girl will make it through the night. I'll leave you to go rot in jail until the trial, where you will be brought to justice, Crystal. Have a nice life."
As Kris allows Adam to drag him to where Leila would be, Crystal calls out to him, but he just ignores it, tears trailing down his face. Only a second later, Kris breaks down, nearly falling to the ground, thanks to Adam and Melanie's sudden hold on him. She gives them space after that, watching as Adam brings Kris into his arms and hugs his shaking body tightly.
She sees his pain and starts to feel it herself.
She wishes she could put Crystal in jail herself.
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"It's been three damn hours," Kris growls as him, Adam, Leila, and Melanie wait in the waiting area, "why can't they just come out and tell us what the heck is going on?"
"The doctor said that there was a problem with one of her lungs, Kris," Melanie says soothingly. "They probably are doing some form of surgery to fix whatever is wrong with it."
Kris sighs. "They can't even tell us what that problem is, though?"
"I would go ask, but I really don't want to interrupt them and cause a problem."
"Hey," Adam calls to Kris, "not to bring any more anger or worry here, but how are we going to afford this? Jessie doesn't have a health plan or insurance yet, right?"
"Right," Leila affirms, "but that doesn't mean your father and I won't give you two a break here and pay this time."
Adam shakes his head. "Mom, you shouldn't. We have to provide for Jessie and-"
"And you have no money at the moment," Leila replies, "so let me and your father take care of it just this once, okay?"
"Adam," Kris whispers, "take it."
"Fine," Adam says, receiving a hug from his mom, "but this is the only time."
"Sure it is. I love you, sweetheart."
"I love you too, Mom."
Suddenly, bringing everyone's attention in front of them, a doctor in scrubs appears, charts in hand. Kris doesn't even wait for him to say his name before he runs up to him and asks the question on all their minds.
"Is she okay?"
The doctor sighs and tells them all to sit. Adam has to force Kris to sit down, bringing him into his arms tightly, but eventually, they all are seated. Then, he pulls out a chart and addresses them.
"I'm Doctor Philip Varner, the one that just operated on your little girl. I will tell you so you don't have to freak out too much that, yes, she is alive."
Everyone lets out a big sigh of relief, and Adam's grip on Kris tightens for a moment, a little squeeze of joy at his words. Then, he brought up the next question on their minds.
"You said too much. Is she okay?"
"Jessie's body had a little slip up today. Due to her prematureness, her respiratory system is not completely developed. Her lungs weren't working properly today and it caused her to struggle to breathe. Luckily, she came here just in time and we were able to get everything working again."
"So," Adam says slowly, "she is okay now, right?"
Dr. Philip smiles. "She's stable and was awake a few minutes ago. We will most likely have to keep her overnight to watch her, but she is okay currently. If you all want, you guys can see her. But only two at a time."
"Kris and I will go," Adam announces mostly to his mother and Melanie. "We need to see her."
Leila nods. "I fully understand."
"I have to go anyway," Melanie adds. "There are more babies that need me at the moment in here. Send my love to Jess, okay?"
Adam nods and then turns to the doctor. "We're ready."
"Follow me, please."
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As they enter the room, all they can see is their beloved Jessie in an incubator hooked up to a lot of tubes and wires.
It's painful to see.
"She looks so fragile," Kris whispers as he places his hand on the top of the incubator. "I can't believe that that is our baby girl."
Dr. Varner sighs. "She will look a bit fragile there, but that's just because she's gone through a lot today and is a very small baby compared to most babies."
"I wonder what's going through her little head right now," Adam ponders as he gazes into the small incubator.
"She probably is wondering why she's in there instead of her crib."
"Or where we are."
"I'm right here, Jess," Kris whispers as he stares at his daughter's face. "I'm not going anywhere."
"Same here," Adam coos, wrapping his arm around Kris's waist, "we'll be here."
Dr. Varner sighs and runs his hands through his hair. Finally, he makes a decision.
"Do you guys want to stay here overnight with her? We could move her to a spare room and get you two cots. I know it's not the best, but we'd be willing to make it happen."
It only takes one simple look for him to know the boy's answer.
Yes.
And with that, he leaves the two boys alone, letting them be with their daughter.
When he reaches the door, he hears them start to talk to Jessie again and realizes just how good of a choice it was to let them stay with her.
It was perfect.
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To be continued......